Mental Magic?
General forum
Posted on Jan. 24, 2014, 5:14 p.m. by GlimmerKing
I came across this format known as Mental Magic, which sounds entirely intense and actually requires you to use your actual knowledge of mtg cards without seeing them in your hand.
Though I am not completely understanding all of it, what can you guys tell me about it? I would really like to learn more.
GlimmerKing says... #3
Whatever you want to put the effort into explaining, I just want a general idea so I know what I'm doing. None of my friends play Mental Magic as far as I know, so maybe I could introduce it to them so we have something new to play.
January 24, 2014 5:27 p.m.
Smith_and_Tonic says... #5
Alright, the easiest way to play is a bag of random cards, and a stack of basic lands which are kept seperate. You draw 7 cards from the pile of random cards to start the game off. The way the game goes you draw one card each turn from the pile or random cards, and you can choose any one land from the stack of lands and put it in into play. This ensures you won't ever be color screwed during the game.
Now on to the gameplay. When you cast a card from your hand, you must instead choose a card with the exact same mana cost and type. For example, I would cast a Llanowar Elves
from hand but instead name Llanowar Mentor
. You can play that repeated cards cannot be played, i.e. I couldn't cast another Llanowar Mentor
using an Elvish Mystic
.
January 24, 2014 5:40 p.m.
Smith_and_Tonic says... #6
The game continues this way until one person wins. You can cast any card in magic unless you figure out a banlist before hand.
This game really tests your knowledge of magic. If you explain the card you are casting and its wrong, the spell is considered countered. If I cast an Argothian Enchantress
and instead describe the card Argothian Pixies
my card would be countered and I don't get the Argothian Enchantress
.
January 24, 2014 5:44 p.m.
smash10101 says... #7
Basically, everyone has a Richard Garfield, Ph.D. emblem the entire game.
January 24, 2014 6:43 p.m.
vampirelazarus says... #9
I like it. Can you clarify further what you mean by describing a card as the wrong one makes it countered?
Is that only if you can't name a card with the same mana cost, or do you always have to name cards that share abilities and mana costs?
Sorry if this is convoluted, I'm running on two hours sleep the last two days.
January 24, 2014 7:22 p.m.
Again, it depends entirely on where you are and how you choose to play.
When my friends played Mental Magic what we did was had a big stack of cards made up of a reasonable curve of CMCs, and you could play any card in your hand face-down as a land which tapped for one mana of any colour, and you could cast any card in your hand as any card in magic that had the same CMC (Colour and exact mana cost didn't matter)
Repeats not allowed.
My favourite technique was letting my buddy play out big threats, and then counteracting them with some ridiculous answer. He once played out a Cosmic Larva to which I played Wall of Stone , and then a Phage the Untouchable to which I played Circle of Protection: Black
Good times.
January 24, 2014 8:03 p.m.
And I think what Smith_and_Tonic means is that if you say you're casting card A, but quote the rules text of Card B, you lose the card.
January 24, 2014 8:04 p.m.
scottemery says... #13
Is there any rule related pages anywhere? This sounds awesome, and I would definitely want to try it out in my LGS.
January 25, 2014 7:02 a.m.
It's not a sanctioned format by anybody, so there's no such thing as official rules. You are free to make them up, and I'm sure you can find a dozen different threads between the main MTG forum sites where people list their particular version.
I actually prefer MoJhoSto to Mental Magic these days personally.
January 25, 2014 9:01 a.m.
GlimmerKing says... #15
What if I play a card like Harrow
or Kodama's Reach
?
Do I just search for any card I want and play it face down?
But if that was true you could search for certain cmc cost cards using cards that put lands into hands Gatecreeper Vine
January 25, 2014 3:11 p.m.
I'd say since none of the cards in the stack are lands, you fail to find anything when you search.
January 25, 2014 7:50 p.m.
Smith_and_Tonic says... #17
You can make on the fly decisions when talking to your opponent assuming its a friend. If its a harrow, sac the land as normal and put 2 more land onto the battlefield (if you have them in a seperate stack). Mental magic is a format to be played with friends, so house ruling a lot of things is fine.
Smith_and_Tonic says... #2
There are a lot of house rules when it comes to mental magic. Would you like to know different variations or just a single variation with fully explained house rules that I've played?
January 24, 2014 5:21 p.m.